It’s summer in the town of Hawkins. The year is 1985.
The cast of “Stranger Things” is a little older, but it seems that they are up to their old tricks in Netflix’s first official trailer for the third season of the Emmy award-winning show due out on July 4.
While season two took place around Halloween in 1984, season three sees a time jump to the summer of ’85 — the heyday of Motley Crue, bold neon prints and scrunchies.
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Sadie Sink (Max) return and seem to have moved on after escaping the Upside Down, the dark dimension where the monsters like the demogorgon and mind flayer, named after “Dungeons and Dragons” creatures, from the first two seasons came from.
However, the gang is never far from danger. The trailer gives fans a glimpse that Will is likely still dealing with some unresolved issues from his connection to the Upside Down, and it offers a taste of the new monster the unlikely crew will have to face.
Not to mention, the looming threat of puberty and growing up.
“We’re not kids anymore,” says Mike. “I mean what did you think, we’re just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?”
Winona Ryder (Joyce), David Harbour (Chief Hopper), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Dacre Montgomery (Billy) and Joe Keery (Steve) are all set to return this season.
Netflix’s “Stranger Things” has become a cultural phenomenon and a critical success. The series has had 30 Emmy nominations and won six, including outstanding casting for a drama series and outstanding sound editing.
While “Stranger Things” is billed as a “Netflix Original,” the show is actually produced by 21 Laps Entertainment, a company run by director and producer Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum”).
Netflix does not own everything it brands as “original” on its platform. The term refers to Netflix being the first market that the show has aired in.
Often Netflix will work with another network to create a show, pay the production fees and then a licensing fee to keep the show on its platform. The streaming service has done this with shows like “The Crown,” “House of Cards” and “Ozark.”
It’s unclear what sort of deal Netflix made when it purchased the first season from Levy and writers Matt and Ross Duffer. Netflix could have paid a flat fee to own the series, agreed to pay an annual fee or a combination of the two.
Season two of “Stranger Things” cost $8 million per episode. There were nine episodes that season. The Duffer Brothers have said that “Stranger Things” could run for a fourth or fifth season, but Netflix, so far, has not green lit any seasons beyond the third.
